Opuscula Is civil New Year A Jewish holiday?

 

WE DON'T CELEBRATE the civil New Years' Day for several reasons.

We already have four Jewish New Year celebrations.

1. First of Nisan is the New Year for (Jewish) kings and for the religious calendar (for festivals)

2. First of Elul is the New Year for the tithing of cattle (but see 3., the first of Tishri)

3. First of Tishri is the New Year for the civil calendar (including the counting of the reigns of foreign kings)

4. First of Shevat is the New Year for trees, according to Bet Shammai, but Bet Hillel fixed the date as the 15th of Shevat

The sources for the holidays are given in the Jewish Virtual Library.

But the followers of Jesus are, perhaps unwittingly, celebrating a Jewish occasion.

Check the math.

Assuming Jesus was born on December 25 - which most historians reject - then January 1 is eight - count'em, eight - days later.

Almost every Jewish boy knows what happened on his eight day (if he was healthy). Two words: BRIT MELAH, circumcision, hopefully performed by a specialist - a mohel. (Until recently, all English royal sons were circumcised by the Royal Mohel. This had nothing to do with religion; the parents wanted the most experienced person to perform the operation and the Royal Mohel was that person.)

So, January 1 of the accepted international solar calendar is, as some Catholics and maybe a few others know, the "Feast of the Circumcision."

I suppose we - Jews - could celebrate a Jewish occasion, but why would we want to celebrate the brit melah of a boy whose followers have caused us so much grief: pogroms, inquisitions, dispositions with foregone conclusions, book burnings, the European holocaust. (That is NOT to suggest that we - Jews - had it much better in Muslim-dominated lands; we did not.)

Jesus, if he really lived, would have been thankful he was born of a Jewish mother rather than Muslim parents; some Muslims, at least in Morocco, still circumcise their sons at age 13 - that's got to be painful at the time and in the boy's memory throughout life.

Now, about "Sylvester"

In Israel many heloni - non-religious Jews - celebrate "Sylvester," an "a/k/a" for New Years' Eve on the philosophy that
כל סיבה למסיבה
or, roughly translated, "any excuse for a party."

The problem with "Sylvester" is that Sylvester was an anti-Semite or, more specifically, anti-Jewish. (Arabs also are Semites.)

According to the English-language Jerusalem Post, Israeli New Years, most commonly known as Sylvester, is named after an anti-Semitic pope.

It's origins, the paper continues, come from Pope Sylvester I, whose saint's day falls on December 31 (the day he died in 335 CE). Pope Sylvester" convinced Constantine to prohibit Jews from living in Jerusalem, and during the Council of Nicea he arranged for the passing of various anti-Semitic legislation.

The holiday "Sylvester, the Post speculates, came to Israel as part of the baggage of European immigrants; Sylvester was celebrated in a number of European, mostly Catholic-dominated, countries.

Meanwhile, ignoring the fact that most Israelis who celebrate "Sylvester" don't know it's origin or who this "Sylvester" was, the rabbis in Jerusalem have banned celebrations on the civil new year's eve.

According to Israel Today, The Chief Rabbinate of Israel has declared that there can be no New Year’s celebration in the Land of Israel. The Rabbinate’s requirements state explicitly that "placing references to Gentile holidays at the end of the secular year is not allowed.” That means no New Year’s Eve for many Israelis.

That ruling, of course, normally would have no impact on the non-religious Jews in Israel who pretty much ignore the rabbis anyway.

The rabbis, in their wisdom - and wanting to punish helonim that plan to celebrate at local hotels and restaurants - ruled that "Any hotel or restaurant offering a New Years Eve celebration will have their Kosher certificate revoked.” Similar warnings were issued to establishments not to display Christmas trees or put up New Year’s decorations.

Israel Today notes that December 31 is a, perhaps "junior" Tisha b'Av.

On January 1 in 1577, Pope Gregory XIII decreed that all Roman Jews, under pain of death, must listen to the compulsory Catholic conversion sermon given in Rome’s synagogues after Friday night services.. The following year (1578), the same pope signed into law a tax forcing Jews to pay for the support of a “House of Conversion” to convert Jews to Christianity and in 1581, Gregory ordered his troops to confiscate all sacred literature from the Roman Jewish community. Thousands of Jews were murdered in the campaign.

The civil calendar the world uses today is known as the "Gregorian" calendar since Gregory XIII revised the earlier Juliann calendar to suit himself. See Does the Pope have the authority to change times and laws?.

For more on "Sylvester" - the pope not the cat - read Do you know what Sylvester is?

Opuscula Are we Hypocrites?

 

OK, I KNOW MANY Jews can SAY the Hebrew words of the daily and Shabat prayers, but I also know that most Jews don't know what they are reading; they don't know the meaning of the words.

I confess that even as a "graduate" of an Israeli ulpan (intensive Hebrew language course) I hardly can be compared to Eliezer Ben-Yehuda or Abba Eban, but I am able to comprehend most of the daily and Shabat prayers.

Because I no longer can make the 1/2-mile trek to make minyan on Shabat I "do" Shabat at the house. It's not the same as being part of the minyan and while I have a humash - several in fact - I miss hearing the Sefer Torah. (I hear a bit of it Mondays and Thursdays so I still manage an aliyah once in 40 days.)

On weekdays, when we rush through our prayers so the youngsters can get to work - being a geezer has its benefits - I sometimes take a paragraph here or there from the prayers to read them slowly enough to understand the words' meaning.

The weekday and Shabat
עמידה/שמונע אשרי (a/k/a amedah/18 or "standing prayer") for the weekday morning prayer contains a paragraph (Hebrew language images from the Hebrew/Hebrew sedur Avotanu)

that translates (according to the Kol Yaakob Hebrew/English sedur as:

Sound the great shofar for our liberty, and raise a banner to gather our exiles, and quickly gather us together from the four corners of the earth into our land.

During the Shabat and Rosh Hodesh musaf service - the one after the Torah is returned to the ark/aron - we read, in part:

that is translated by the Orot Sephardic Shabat Siddur as :

May it be your will, Adonai, our G-d and G-d of our fathers, that you bring us up to our land with joy and establish us within our territory…

OK.

So seven days a week we - Jews - pray to pack our bags and make aliyah. Most people reading this are reading this חו''ל - "hutz l'aretz" or anyplace other than within Israel, this scrivener included.

Keep in mind that the עמידה/שמונע אשרי is the CORE prayer, the central prayer, so much so that it is known as "The Prayer." The prayer was formalized, according to Jewish Liturgy: A Guide to Research: 5.3, sometime after 70 CE (the second Temple's destruction). The Shema also was formalized during the same period, and although it's origins are in the Torah - vs. the Amidah's being primarily rabbinic - in the grand scheme of things, the Shema is the Shema, but the Amidah is "The Prayer."

I count a number of rabbis as acquaintances. Without exception they all reside in the U.S.

I know they can read and comprehend Hebrew - even the Reform and Conservative rabbis - and I wonder how they can justify their continued presence in the States.

I suppose it is because someone has to provide Jewish leadership, but I can't recall any rabbi waving the flag for aliyah. Perhaps that could be perceived as "un-American." (Given the dependence on American Jews' funding of Israeli organizations, it might be counter-productive for Israel if all of us suddenly packed up and moved to Israel.)

I lived in Israel but came back when I realized there was no opportunity for me to influence anything there. A prime minister - Peres - famously told an American woman who challenged his opinion on something to "go back to America"- if she didn't like how he was running things. (Truth in blogging: As a Beganite I am not fan of Shimon Peres or the Labor party.)

I don't want to go to Israel to take up space needed by younger, productive people, although being "closer-than-Skype" to my three grandchildren in Yavne would be nice.

Still, each time I read the weekday and Shabat musaf amidah I wonder if I'm not - just a little bit - hypocritical. I don' want animal sacrifices brought back when the Temple is restored; I think we - Jews - have matured and can replace sacrifice with prayer - not a new idea,

According to an oft-told story, R. Yohanan ben Zakkai once was walking with his disciple R. Joshua near Jerusalem after the destruction of the Temple.
R. Joshua looked at the Temple ruins and said: "Alas for us! The place which atoned for the sins of the people Israel through the ritual of animal sacrifice lies in ruins!"
Then R. Ben Zakkai spoke to him these words of comfort: "Be not grieved, my son. There is another way of gaining atonement even though the Temple is destroyed. We must now gain atonement through deeds of loving kindness." For it is written, "Loving kindness I desire, not sacrifice" (Hosea 6:6)

 

Both bilingual sidurim (siddurs) follow the Syrian (Aleppo) tradition.

Opuscula Kuwaiti journalist Has different view

 

IN AN ISRAEL HAYOM article headed Only Palestinians are 'martyrs', Kuwaiti journalist Abdullah al-Hadlaq writes that I am baffled by the international community's silence in the face of the crimes committed by Palestinian terrorists against the Israeli people. I am equally baffled by the international community's outcry against Israel's legal right to defend itself and its soldiers and against Israel's legitimate right to live and stand strong.

Al-Hadlaq adds Hundreds of thousands of Muslims are killed worldwide every day in wars and internal conflicts -- in Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Yemen, India, Pakistan, Myanmar, the Philippines, China, and Nepal -- but the defective Arab media does not refer to any one of the casualties by name or the title "shahid." Only when a Palestinian is killed, be it in battle or in a car accident or in a fight or when celebratory gunshots are fired at a wedding, does the Arab media applaud him and give him, falsely and deceptively, the name "shahid."

Al-Hadlaq chastises Arab media by asking Why, when Palestinian terrorists and murderers holding knives and rocks are killed by Israeli soldiers, who are forced to open fire in cases of legitimate self-defense, do these debased Arab media outlets twist the truth and call the Palestinian terrorists "shahids"?

The Kuwaiti writer's points are well made, but his focus is far too narrow.

It is not just the Arab or Muslim-controlled media - newspapers, tv, Web-based - that ignore the plight of Arabs and Muslims in, as Al-Hadid writes, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Yemen, India, Pakistan, Myanmar, the Philippines, China, and Nepal. Syria the world knows about because it has the attention of the Big Powers (U.S. and Russia) and some lesser lights (U.K.) and because Iran is a major player with money, weapons, and personnel. Whenever Israel makes an incursion into Syrian airspace, that too makes news, brings additional condemnation on Israel - how dare it destroy munitions intended to be used against it!

Most Americans would be hard-pressed to know what is going on today in Yemen or Burma or even the Philippines. Admittedly, Americans, living in a huge country with its own problems, most of which emanate from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, tend to be less knowledgeable of "foreign affairs" than citizens of smaller states and minor islands. Provincial without a doubt.

But when it comes to "Palestine," the artificial state, U.S. media bows to its PR releases and writes headlines starting Israel blamed … in attack on, for killing Palestinian, for; frankly, for failing to die at the hands of a "Palestinian" terrorist with a gun, a knife, or a vehicle.

Admittedly, murders are all too common in the U.S. Black-on-black murders get only fleeting attention - and none of the black superstars (Jackson, Sharpton, et al) make an appearance; likewise latino-on-latino killings fail to make news for more than a day or two. The superstars only come out when a white kills a black or latino. A white cop kills a white person - there are far too many cop killings of all races - where are, who are, the superstars?.

No, Mr. Al-Hadlaq, its not just the Arab media that sees only "Palestinians" worthy of headlines and more than a column inch or two, hardly a filler.

On the other hand, it may be that, like black-on-black and latino-on-latino murders in the U.S., perhaps Muslim-on-Muslim killings in Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Yemen, India, Pakistan, Myanmar, the Philippines, China, and Nepal are too distant and too common the make headlines or to be worth 10 seconds of tv air time…In other world news….

'Course, the "Arab media" Al-Hadlaq criticizes could be picking up their information from the Israeli leftist media who, like their Arab cousins, delight in bashing the only country that gives them any freedom to challenge the government.

 

A Internet search for "journalist Abdullah al-Hadlaq" turns up other Israel-friendly and Arab media-critical articles.

Opuscula Seaport for Gaza On Israel's Budget?

 

UNDER THE HEADLINE Uri Ariel calls to build a seaport in Gaza we read that Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel (Jewish Home) supports allowing Hamas more economic freedom in Gaza, he stated Monday, opining that it is Israel's responsibility in order to ensure stability in the region.

"We want to build a seaport in Gaza, so that they can import and export goods," Ariel stated in an interview with the Knesset Channel. "As of today, they don't have any real products.".

Ariel believes that "Israel must control Gaza, but only militarily. We are responsible for the region and we must permit them to do as we do."

Gaza COULD have had a seaport if:

1. It not repeatedly attacked Israel

2. Its leaders stopped pocketing money donated by nations around the world

Gaza also could have repaired its airport had it met the same conditions just cited.

THERE ARE SEVERAL PROBLEMS with MK Ariel's proposal.

Most critical, how will Israel be able to control what goes into Gaza?

What departs Gaza is less of a concern, but what it imports, based on its past history, often means problems for Israelis.

Even when Israel controls what crosses the Israel-Gaza border Hamas, which controls Gaza, redirects materials intended for post-retaliation reconstruction to its own military use.

In order for Israel to control what goes into Gaza via Ariel's Gaza sea port, Israel would have to either interdict every approaching ship, board it, and inspect its cargo. Alternatively, Israel would have to secure the port under its military and inspect off-loaded cargo at the port before allowing it to exit the port's secure (Israeli-controlled) area. In that case, Israel would have to build rocket-proof houses for its troops and provide some means to safely rotate them in and out of the port.

Beside the fact that Hamas cannot be trusted - it like the PA - has sworn to wipe Israel off the map (but it cannot since it would lose access to medical care, electricity, and a foe to point to when Gaza residents complain). Even if Hamas and the PA were to cancel their vows to destroy Israel and its citizens - Christian, Jew, and Muslim - Israel would be foolish to accept their change of heart at face value, based solely on past history.

ABOUT THE AIRPORT

Rather than a seaport I would prefer that Gaza be allowed - NOT FINANCED BY ISRAEL - to repair its airport to allow smaller commercial jets - e.g. regional jets such as the Embraer 145, the Antonov An-148, or the Tupolev Tu-334, all capable of carrying passengers throughout the region but lacking the capacity to deliver military-weigh loads and not requiring particularly long or thick runways.

In the past, Gaza-based flights primarily went to Cairo, Amman, and - believe it - "Tel Aviv" (Lod) with additional flights to Mecca and other regional destinations.

Had Hamas not destroyed the agricultural infrastructure left by the Israelis when Ariel Sharon forced them out, Gaza could be exporting fruits, vegetables, and flowers to Europe rather than exporting missiles to Israel.

AN ASIDE: According to Ahmed Hayman on the Web site Gaza Internatinal Airport, a/k/a Yasser Arafat International, The war (that closed the airport) was between 2008 and 2009 and the Palestinians destroyed the Asphalt in 2010 to get the stones .

ASKING ISRAEL TO FUND THE PROJECTS

Given all the money Hamas and the PA received and continue to receive from donors around the world - both Muslim and non-Muslim - the masters of Gaza should have sufficient funds to finance a port on their own. The problem for Hamas is two-fold.

One: Many of the donations went to fund weapons to strike Israel.

Two: Much of the funds went - following the grand tradition initiated by the late PLO boss Yasser Arafat - to line Hamas leaders' overseas bank accounts.

Asking Israel to fund a seaport for Gaza would be like sharpening the sword that will be used to behead you. "Foolish" and "stupid" are understatements.

Moreover, Israel has its own economic problems as a semi-welfare state, where, as it happens, non-Jewish citizens enjoy the same benefits as Jewish citizens (of late, sometimes more than Jewish citizens).

Gaza's import/export problems are NOT of Israel's doing. Had the rulers of Gaza - Hamas and the PLO before it - had peaceful relations with Israel - and Egypt - it could have a decent airport and it could have built a decent seaport.

Only a J Streeter or person of a similar anti-Israel mentality would expect Israel to fund a port it could not control what comes ashore.

If Hamas wants a port, let Hamas turn to Egypt; perhaps their fellow Muslims will be willing to pony up some cash; Iran seems to be ready and Turkey apparently wants to be first in line to use the port when it's a reality.

Asking Israel to fund a facility that can - will - be used to being in weapons to kill Israelis is beyond ludicrous. For a member of Israel's knesset to suggest such folly is beyond the realm of belief.

Opuscula Schnorers

 

I DON'T MIND SUPPORTING my congregation. I don't mind supporting the local Jewish food bank. But there is a limit.

Recenty we had two schnorers at the morning minyan.

One, a local gentleman, shows up at our place once-a-week. The other 5 schnoring days he makes the rounds of the other synagogues in the area.

The fellow, most assuredly of Social Security and Medicare age, always comes with his own envelop with his reason du jour written on the outside.

We're not a rich congregation - we only have one doctor and no lawyers. Used car dealers we have. Tee shirt sellers we have. Mechanics we have. But on a regular basis, no people with a lot of "discretionary" funds.

The local guy collects between $20 and $30 on each visit. Multiply that small amount times the number of congregations having daily minyans in the area - by my quick count there are at least 6 within walking distance. (To the best of my knowledge, the gentleman gets around on "shank's mare" - his two feet.)

Today he sought help for his medical condition.

OK, even with Medicare and a decent "no extra charge" Medicare Advantage plan he could get stuck with bills for medications. On the other hand, if he has Medicaid, then the medications should be covered.

At least this fellow is local.

The other schnorer we had came all the way from Israel to New York. From New York he traveled to northern New Jersey, then on the Florida.

Being the winter season, the Israeli could get relatively inexpensive tickets. According to Kayak, it's possible to fly from TLV to JFK, spend more than a month in the U.S., then back to TLV via Paris on Air France for only US$543 (plus taxes). Why anyone would want to travel via Paris is beyond me, but perhaps that's why the flight is "cheap." A KLM/Delta flight via Amsterdam and Boston priced in at US$570.

The NY - south Florida ticket also is inexpensive. The round-trip ticket JFK-MIA via Delta and American is listed for US$127. Cheaper than driving.

So why did the Israeli show up at our minyan?

His story, approved by the local rabbinical board, is that he has to come up with a dowry for his daughter, the great grand-daughter of a rabbi famous in his shtetl. It occurred to me that if his grandfather was such a "gadol," the potential groom would be delighted to have the schnorer's daughter as his wife and never mind the dowry. The groom's new father-in-law could squeeze one more chair at the table for the couple's first year of married life - also traditional for haridim who only have time to study and no time at all to earn a living.

The Israeli also claims to have an autistic child, but Israel has organizations, both government and non-government, to care for such children, so why was he begging here.

The congregation has a procedure to deal with schnorers. The rabbi - if present - or another congregant reads the document provided by the rabbinical board and places an envelop on the bima (ahmud). People put whatever they wish into the envelop. (Remember, the local guy brings his own envelope.) Schnorers are not allowed to buttonhole - stick their hands in a congregant's face to bully a person into giving - congregants.

Because the rabbi was AWOL, the Israeli - in what might be considered typical Israeli fashion - went from congregant to congregant putting out his hand for his due. He ignored the envelop.

I know tzdeka is a mitzvah - the word actually means "justice" - but I can't bring myself to contribute to the dowry of a schnorer's daughter - particularly when the money he spent on airfare could have been the basis for a nice dowry.

Call it "sour grapes." When my daughter was married, we shared the costs of the henna and the wedding in Israel with the groom's family. As far as dowry - the boy got my daughter; that should be enough! Maybe the groom's father and I should have schnorered Bnai Brak or Mea Sharim. Fair is fair.

Opuscula Israel dangerous For U.S. travelers

Under a headline that reads: US government issues updated travel warning on Israel", we learn that (The U.S.) State Department warns citizens of heightened security tensions, clashes in Jerusalem, urges Americans to avoid travel to West Bank and Gaza • Nevertheless, Americans can safely visit Israel for study, work, or tourism purposes, warning assures.

Is the U.S. as safe? Safer? Less safe?

Consider . . .

The ThinkProgress web site provides A Timeline Of Mass Shootings In The US Since Columbine beginning with

April 20, 1999. In the deadliest high school shooting in US history, teenagers Eric Harris and Dylan Kiebold shot up Columbine High School in Littleton, CO. They killed 13 people and wounded 21 others. They killed themselves after the massacre.

And ending with

August 2015. Vester Lee Flanagan II aka Bryce Williams shoots dead two former colleagues from the WDBJ7 news team.

Somehow the liberal site missed the shooting at the LA Jewish Community Center on August 10. 1999.

Since it occurred after the list was published, it also lacks

December 2, 2015. San Bernardino shooting (Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik)

The last year statics are available for Dade County FL (Miami) is 2013, when, according to City-Data.com the county had
* 71 murders
* 96 reported rapes
* 2.326 reported robberies (theft from people)
* 2,562 reported assaults
* 3,993 reported burglaries (theft from properties).

At the time (2013) the county has a population of only 2.617 million.

Forbes. claims the 10 most dangerous places to live in the U.S. are, in descending order:

Detroit
St. Louis
Oakland
Memphis
Birmingham
Atlanta
Baltimore
Stockton
Cleveland
and coming in at number 10, Buffalo.

According to NeighborhoodScout’s Most Dangerous Cities - 2015 list, the most dangerous city, based on crime per population, is Camden NJ, followed by
Chester PA
Detroit MI
Saginaw MI
Oakland CA
Bessemer, AL
Flint, MI
Atlantic City, NJ
Wilmington, DE
and Memphis, TN rounding out the Top Ten, a dubious honor.

Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York failed to make the list. Washing DC comes in at 29. Miami at 46, Philadelphia is 54th, and Houston makes the list an #68.

Perhaps the U.S. State Department should issue a warning to potential visitors to the U.S. Statistically, it appears that a traveler is safer anywhere in Israel that in the U.S.

Opuscula Treat terrorists Before the victims?

 

THE QUESTION IN ISRAEL TODAY IS:

Should triage for injured terrorists and victims be the same for both?

All on-line English-language news sites are reporting that A decision by the ethics office of the Israeli Medical Association (IMA) raised a furor on Wednesday morning, after the body called to first treat the most wounded person at the scene of a terror attack - even if that person is the Arab terrorist who committed the attack.

The point of triage is to get personnel back to duty as quickly as possible. This was proven in North Africa during WW2 when penicillin, in short supply, preference was given in its administration to allied soldiers who contracted VD in local brothels over soldiers with combat injuries; purpose: the soldiers with VD could be rated suitable for duty faster than solders injured in combat.

It seems fair that no one wants to get the enemy "back to duty" as soon as possible. Moreover, specifically in Israel, a terrorist is wounded in an attack on Israeli civilians, receives excellent treatment at an Israeli hospital, is sent to an Israeli prison where education is free and the terrorist gets a salary from the "Palestinian" government (from donations by anti-Jews) and then is released early in a lop-sided prisoner swap.

Against that, the post-war Geneva Convention of 1949 ruled than Only urgent medical reasons will authorize priority in the order of treatment. In 1977 this was expanded to included injured enemy combatants. However, in 1988, the U.S. Defense Department - followed by NATO member countries - ordered medics to follow the utilitarian approach where preference is given for the maximum number of "salvagable" soldiers. See Triage & Equality Baker & Strosberg, 1992

The American Medical Association (AMA), in an article titled Maintaining Medical Neutrality in Conflict Zones cites a case of a medical organization working in rural Uganda that (apparently) refuses to treat "violent enemies" of the community it serves.

"We've worked for years to establish trust among the local people here-trust that's enabled us to dramatically improve the health in these communities. It would be a grave insult if we offered care to their violent enemies, and that would surely result in a huge setback for all our hard work. We should shut down the clinic before the rebels arrive because they're not welcome here." (Bold face emphasis mine.)

In a reddit AskHistorians entry titled How did Napoleon treat wounded enemy soldiers?, Donald F Draper comments that during Napoleon's wars, French surgeons would do whatever they could for anyone, interested in saving lives. This would extend to enemy soldiers if possible. (Underscore emphasis mine.)

The question remains: Does the Geneva Convention require medics to treat terrorists before treating their victims?

According to Military Medical Ethics: Is there a conflict?, slide 29/60 clearly states

Note the slide above does NOT require a medic to give preference to the enemy (terrorist) before giving aid to the terrorist's victims, even when it calls for the medic to "treat fallen combatants as one's own wounded."

The question: Do the laws of war and Geneva Conventions not apply to insurgents or other illegitimate combatants? is answered as follows:

If combatants violate the rules of war or are not wearing proper uniforms or insignia to show the enemy they're legitimate targets while operating behind enemy lines, they don't qualify as prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions.

International law states that only properly uniformed combatants who violates the rules of war (for example by fighting under a white flag or committing atrocities against civilians or enemy prisoners of war or enemy prisoners of war committing against their own buddies or officers of belligerents in POW camps held by belligerents or civilians or waging destruction on property inside the belligerent territory while escaping back to their own lines) and combatants who are not wearing proper uniforms or insignia to show the enemy they're legitimate targets while operating behind enemy lines don't qualify as prisoners of war.

In other words, the "Palestinian" terrorists, being sans uniform, don't have Geneva Convention protection.

Ted Lapkin asks in the Middle East Forum: Does Human Rights Law Apply to Terrorists?

No terrorist group is a party to the Geneva Conventions. They have not signed, much less ratified, those treaties. Moreover, it is evident that Hamas, Hezbollah, and members of the global Al-Qaeda network spurn both the spirit and the letter of international treaties designed to ameliorate the cruelty of war. Bloody attacks in New York, Jerusalem, Bali, Madrid, and Beslan are testament to the fact that these groups seek to kill civilians rather than to take captives. And when Islamist terrorists do seize hostages, brutality rather than protection appears to be the rule.

Terrorists groups all fail the four-part (Geneva Convention) test. Hijacking civilian airliners and flying them into office buildings is not "in accordance with the laws and customs of war," nor is using human bombs to blow up buses, nor is lining up and executing school teachers.

Michael L. Gross writes in Chapter 4 of The Limits of Impartial Medical Treatment during Armed Conflict

But what happens when some of the soldiers are enemy wounded? May their interests be shunted aside in the name of military necessity? During WWII the US government thought so when it allocated 85 per cent of available penicillin stocks to the US military, 15 per cent to civilian hospitals and 0 per cent to treat POWs.

The claim of enemy wounded to receive medical care is similar to the claim of any moral agent who requires aid from those who can provide it. This claim is not absolute nor does it entail that a rescuer offer aid to others that is equal to what he needs for himself. When rescuing agents are states, a similar condition holds: while states may be called upon to aid those in need, no state may be required to relinquish resources at the expense of its wellbeing.

As a corpsman (medic) in the U.S. military circa 1960 I do not recall anyone suggesting that enemy combatants, and certainly not enemies lacking combatant status (i.e., combatants in civilian apparel) deserved the priority attention over less injured American personnel.

That did not mean uniformed enemies were ignored, only that our priorities were for U.S. and allied wounded.

Consider all the facts. Is it humane to treat a badly wounded terrorists before a wounded victim, knowing the terrorist will be a recidivist? If Israel had the death penalty, would the terrorist face it? Given Israel's budget squeeze, is the cost of a terrorist's incarceration worth it?

I'm not living in Israel so it's not my decision, but I think the Israeli Medical Association (IMA) may have gotten it wrong.

Opuscula "Xmas not for Jews" Said to be hate crime

 

COOPER CITY FL, is a small community west of U.S. 441/SR 7 in Broward County that grew out of agricultural land. For the most part, it - as most of the county - is a tolerant place; live and let live.

Now, in mid-December 2015, two "hate crimes" are being investigated by the local sheriff's department. In one case, there's no question that the crime was prompted by hate. The other? From my perspective, there's no crime at all.

THE HATE CRIME was when some jerk spray painted "F*** Muslims" on the local K-12 Ishmaelite school.

The attack was stupid on many levels.

First, I suspect most residents of the county didn't even know the school existed. Now they do.

Attacking the school might mean local Muslims, with help from outsiders, will retaliate against local churches, synagogues, and schools. Broward County does not need a war of, or against, religions.

XMAS IS NOT FOR JEWS

One Cooper City family, Chabadniks, got a note from an ignoramus who neither knew what a hanukia is nor had more than a kindergarten education (if that).Had the jerk politely knocked on the door and asked, the residents would have been happy to explain that thing on the roof. Whether or not the note writer's holiday is "better" is open to debate. (1 day vs. 8; sufganiyot and latkes vs. artery clogging egg nog and Aunt Tillie's fruit cake; easy choice.)

Several other Jews living in the same Cooper City development found notes stuck in their mailboxes that stated "Xmas is not for the Jews"

Of course "Xmas" it is not for Jews. Hanukah is for the Jews,

In this case, the crimes are a violation of FEDERAL law and the Post Office inspectors and Fibbies (FBI) should be investigating; it's a crime to open a mailbox that is not yours.

There apparently are a few anti-Semites in the neighborhood - someone objected to a Chabad-sized hanukia (Hanukah menorah) on a private residence. One of the people receiving the mail box admonition had a blow-up teddy bear with a dreidel on the front lawn of the family home, making it obvious that the family was Jewish. Equally obvious is that both families - the one with the large hanukia and the one with the bear - are Jewish. Neither residence had anything remotely "Christmas" to encourage the "Xmas is not for Jews" note.

There ARE Jews who put up Christmas trees - "Hanukah bushes" - and other holiday decorations. These are ignorant people who pretend that the holiday is an "American holiday; everybody celebrates it." Granted, the holiday is celebrated - commercially if not religiously - by the majority of Americans who claim Jesus as their god, but it is not an "American" holiday. July 4th is an American holiday. Thanksgiving is an American holiday, as are Veterans' Day and Memorial Day. Christmas, New Years, and Halloween are Christian cum pagan holidays.

The note writer(s) is correct: "Xmas is NOT a Jewish holiday.

Opuscula One more reason Israel isn’t my home

 

THE HEADLINE IN THE TIMES OF ISRAEL reads:
Court denies legal counsel for Jewish suspects in case under gag order

Muslim terrorists from Occupied Israel get representation - and early releases.

Muslim terrorists from Occupied Israel somehow manage to acquire weapons used to maim and murder Israelis, usually civilians and often the very old or the very young. Until recently, the only Israeli civilians allowed to possess firearms after active duty service were IDF officers. The restriction has been very slightly reduced in light of attacks by Muslims from Occupied Israel and, in some cases, Israeli Muslims.

By contrast, an American Jew may own long guns and side arms without restriction (assuming the Jew is not a felon); in most states the American Jew can be licensed to carry a side arm for self defense.

The Israeli rabbinute has a strangle hold on everything that even indirectly touches it - kashrut, birth, marriage, divorce, burial. Even Jews who are heloni (non-observant) are under the oft-times heavy thumb of the rabbinute.

MANY AMERICAN JEWS stay "home" because the Israeli life style can be difficult. It takes some adjusting to go from a spacious home to a postage stamp apartment. (On the other hand, it's possible to buy nice, albeit large, furniture abandoned by new immigrants from North America - the furniture simply can't be squeezed into to an Israeli apartment.)

Israeli politics boggle the mind of anyone accustomed to a two party system with a three-division government in which, at least in theory, all three branches are equal. In Israel, there are more than THIRTY (30) different political parties.

In the U.S., candidates are elected as individuals (most "Party Levers" have disappeared from voting machines.). In Israel people vote by party and don't know until Knesset seats are assigned who will fill them. In theory, the person at the top of a party's "list" may be bumped to the bottom of the list between the time ballots are cast and the final votes tallied. At best, Israel has a pseudo-democracy. (Still, it's better than any of its regional neighbors.)

Want to buy a car in Israel? Jerusalem Institute of Market Studies (JIMS) researcher Keren Harel-Hariri says, "Israel's purchase tax is one of the highest in the world - 83% plus VAT (now 17%). The tax on spare parts is effectively over 100%." She adds that the discounts given to leasing companies and car fleets, compared with ordinary citizens, further distorts pricing, because the Ministry of Finance favors companies with big car fleets.

If you want to DRIVE that vehicle, Bloomberg reports that With Israel's average price for gas at $8.28 per gallon ($2.12/liter), it constitutes 8% of the average Israeli's daily income to buy a gallon of fuel. It could be worse; Israel's prices are LOWER than 10 other countries. (Norway is #1at $9.79/gallon.)

No car? There are taxis for local trips and sherutes (jitneys) for inter-city trips. Inter-city buses are comfortable and trains are great, but just before and just after Shabat, they often are SRO - Standing Room Only.

There ARE some companies in Israel that have a 5-day work week, but schools, government, and many businesses have a 5 1/2 day work week: Sunday through Friday afternoon. In the U.S., if a barber wants to cut hair 7 days a week, the barber is free to do so; the barber's competition might not like it, but it's the barber's choice. Likewise grocers. Most Israeli communities force barbers and grocers to close on Shabat; but they ALSO force closure mid-week. Sell a tomato on Wednesday afternoon in Haifa and face a stiff fine.

Need a Social Security card or passport. Make an appointment with the consulate in the capital; the embassy in Tel Aviv might not accommodate your requirement. It's easier to make an appointment at an Israeli consulate in the U.S.

If you are of military age you will need a permit from the IDF to travel outside the country. It's usually granted, but it's more paperwork for the traveler. Your children will need their own Israeli passports to exit the country. Contrary to popular opinion, going through Lod (a/k/a Ben Gurion) International Airport is no different than any other international airport through which I've passed, both in the U.S. and Europe.

How do I know all this?

I lived, studied, and worked in Israel for four years; my daughter and grandchildren live there now.

Given the way the Israeli government operates - denying Jews their rights under the law, limiting a citizen's right of self defense - I think I'm better off politically and legally in the U.S.; at least here I can defend my rights.

America's not perfect, but it suits me better,

Opuscula Black Muslims in US Don't know history

 

THERE IS, or at least was, a video titled Islamberg, NY – Quiet Hamlet or Terror Training Camp? that purports to show Muslim women learning (para-)military tasks.

All of the women appearing in the video are black.

They sound like Americans or perhaps Canadians.

Don't they know their own history?

The slave trade that brought blacks to America in the 17th and 18th centuries worked like this:

Blacks captured blacks from other tribes.

The captured blacks were sold to Arab Muslims; Muslims who, to this day, consider dark skin the mark of an inferior person.

The Muslims sold the blacks to, primarily, Europeans who put the blacks in inhumane conditions on board ships bound for Europe and the New World.

The blacks arriving in North America were sold to whites. In the American South, their primary work was in the fields. Despite the Simon Legree slave master image*, logic shows that most slaves were not ill treated; they were, after all, valuable property. Some slaves who were mistreated were victims of their black bosses wanting to exercise their power over weaker people - that, unfortunately, is human nature.

That is NOT to claim that all slaves were treated like family or that no Jews were involved in slave trading or slave ownership, just as it would e a lie to state that all Jews follow Torah.

Visit North Africa today and witness how blacks are treated by Arabs.

Count how many blacks are Muslims in Europe compared to Arabs.

Certainly there ARE Muslims who are black, consider Wilāyat Gharb Ifrīqīyyah (a/k/a Boko Haram) in Nigeria, Chad, Niger, and northern Cameroon and Ḥarakat ash-Shabāb al-Mujāhidīn (a/k/a Al-Shabaab) controls large parts of central and southern Somalia and operates in Uganda.

What entices a black in North America to join Islamic terrorists deserves a study. What ideology draws blacks to it while at the same time degrading blacks? A video at http://dailyrollcall.com/2015/05/21/two-of-many-islamberg-in-hancock-ny-and-islamville-in-dover-tn-why-do-we-allow-them-to-exist/ suggests many black Muslims in the U.S. - male and female - are graduates of the penal system, and that many find their way to one of the 36 Islamist communities in the U.S .

עינים להם ולא יראו

 

* Abolitionist Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe authored a work of fiction titled Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly that had as a lead character Simon Legree, a fictional sadistic slave owner who tormented his slaves with assistance from other slaves.

There is no evidence that Ms. Stowe ever saw slaves in the American south.